


lethargic; 00:13

by sauveznous



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 14:37:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17562326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sauveznous/pseuds/sauveznous
Summary: Mina and Nayeon spent their last day together.





	lethargic; 00:13

**Author's Note:**

> The writer's block won't leave me alone so I wrote this instead.

The world would end thirteen minutes after midnight. That was what they said before they left.

Mina stared down at her wounded palm. She needed some band aids.

Standing up from her bed, she tried to find them in the drawer on her desk. There were some, indeed, probably belonged to the girl who used to live on the room across hers, but they were all dusty and Mina didn’t want to make the wound worse. She could probably grab some in the convenience store near the dorm. That would be it.

The city was empty when Mina went out. Of course it was, the world was ending, no one had enough desire to go out for a _walk_ around the town. Except Mina, maybe.

The remaining of some days prior’s riot was everywhere. Mina had to watch each and every step she took or else she might hurt her feet. She indeed didn’t expect to see any fellow living being but the emptiness kind of creeped her out, honestly.

People didn’t even care anymore, she thought, when the wind blew and some pile of cash money flew attacking her face. Mina didn’t either, as she swapped them off and continued walking. The convenience store wasn’t far ahead. She could only sigh seeing how the store didn’t look even a bit like how it usually did.

Mina didn’t know where everyone went. Her own family, she could know, but others, she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like going out was forbidden on the last day of the world. There were rumors going around about dying early if people weren’t being careful; but Mina didn’t buy it. She could walk around just fine and didn’t feel like dying. Physically, at least.

When Mina was a kid, she fell to her knees on the ground when she was playing around in the park. She didn’t want to be scolded, so she, holding her tears, walked to the same convenience store to grab some band aids. Too shy to ask the employees, she looked for it by herself and found it on the top on the shelf. She ended up crying her eyes out back then because she couldn’t reach it.

The boxes were also dusty but at least the band aids were still safe inside. Mina took one box and walked away, before she suddenly heard something.

Stopping her steps, she turned to the source of the voice, and saw a girl, looking bewildered, staring back at her.

Oh, an actual human before her eyes. Mina wasn’t the only one alive after all.

“Hi,” Mina said first.

The girl raised her eyebrows, “Hi?”

Mina just smiled, she understood why it was weird of her to say hi.

“I’m here for some band aids.” She continued, gesturing at the box she was carrying, “Didn’t expect to see a person.”

“Yeah, yeah me too.” The girl seemed to be just as casual, which was rare, as she took a seat on the floor, leaning on the shelf, “I haven’t seen a single person since... you know, the mess,”

Mina joined her then, as she didn’t know anything else to do, “Yes. Me too. It’s the first time I go out after the riot. I don’t like noises.”

They sat side by side in silence for some moment. Mina opened the box and pasted one band aid onto her wound. The girl kept watching her and Mina wasn’t bothered even a bit.

“I’m Nayeon.” She then said, extending her hand to Mina.

“Mina.” Mina shook the hand.

“Mina,” Nayeon repeated, pulling her hand back, “so, do you live around here?”

“Yes. I live in a dorm some blocks from here. My family has an apartment near here too. How about you?”

“I’m from the Capital.”

It was Mina’s turn to raise her eyebrows, “The Capital?”

“Mm-hmm.” She took something from the shelf in front of them and opened it, offering it to Mina, “Pills?”

“Sure.”

“It took just two hours of drive from the Capital. The amount of time I encountered people was like… six? Seven? You’re the seventh person.”

Mina munched the pills while she snickered, “Why would you come here all the way from the Capital? I mean, you know,”

Nayeon looked at her weirdly, holding a smile, “What’s with that, anyway?”

“You know what I mean. No hard feelings, though, just wondering,”

Nayeon chuckled, nodding her head, “Yeah, I get it. But contrary to popular belief, not everyone in the Capital got the chance to… to leave. Not everyone had the privilege. The Capital is huge. The population is too big. Couldn’t fit them all.”

“So you’re here because you didn’t get the chance?”

Nayeon hesitated. Fiddling with the pill in her hand, she looked down. Mina knew it was a topic she should have avoided. But Nayeon brought that up first. And it wasn’t like Mina had the chance. She didn’t. Not even close. If the people from the Capital still couldn’t be accepted, then someone like Mina from some unknown, far away city in the countryside, would be shameless to merely _hoping_.

“I chose not to go.”

Mina jerked her head at Nayeon instantly, “Pardon?”

“I didn’t go because I didn’t want to.”

A frown was present, “What-- why? Why would you do that? I mean, people were dying for the chance to leave but you _chose_ not to?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Well, it isn’t like we have anything else to do,”

Nayeon let out a bitter laugh, it was as if she didn’t realize for a moment that the world would end in less than a day, like she usually had a daily routine and was normally too busy to think about death, unlike Mina.

“You know how most people in the Capital worked for the government, right?”

Mina nodded, “Yeah, and I guess you were one of them?”

“Umm well, you can say so, but I was never really… like… you know, officially be a part of them. But my father did work for them. And I had too much time on my hands so I kept sticking with him the whole time.”

“What did he do?”

“He…” Nayeon paused a bit, “he was one of the researchers.”

Mina was taken aback, _again_ , “So you were--”

“I know, I know, it’s--”

“Your father was one of the researchers and you _chose not to go_?”

“Listen to me first, okay, I said it’s a long story.”

Researcher. Mina had her lips parted at that. No way in hell some researcher chose not to go. Everyone knew researchers were the _first_ in line to leave. They _had_ to leave. Without them, it would be useless. Every effort without those geniuses would be useless. They had to _live_. Mina felt like she didn’t buy it. Was Nayeon lying? But why would she lie?

“He was the researcher, not me. But since I was his only daughter, I became familiar with everything as well. I came to his workplace. I met other researchers. I was never officially appointed but I did some… some things myself there.”

Looking at Mina’s skeptical face, Nayeon let out a scoff.

“Why don’t we take a walk while we talk?”

Mina pursed her lips, “Umm…”

“I’ve never been here before. Can you show me around?” Nayeon grabbed a bag of pills she found, “It’s our last day after all.”

It got a little bit chilly when they walked out of the convenience store. The sky was decently bright and Mina wondered how much longer they would be able to witness such scene. She didn’t bring her watch with her. Her phone remained ignored inside her jeans’ back pocket. She didn’t want to count the time until her death.

“So, Mina,” Nayeon started, as they walked side by side on the pavement, “who are you?”

Mina shoved both hands inside her coat pocket, “I’m Mina, surname Myoui, originally, but my family doesn’t exactly have a close relationship with the Myoui Clan. We’re related; but at the same time we’re not.”

“Myoui Clan…”

“Yeah, you must’ve had heard of them before.” She turned to Nayeon, who was frowning, “They came from the Capital.”

“Japanese?”

“Yup.”

“Ah, I see.” Nayeon nodded, “Yeah, there aren’t many Japanese clans around. Asian clans overall are very rare. I’m Asian myself, if it isn’t obvious enough. Can you guess which part of Asia I’m from?”

Mina stopped on her tracks, Nayeon did the same, to observe the other girl with the same frown, “I’d say… Korean?”

The gasp wasn’t faked and Mina laughed at that, “How did you know?”

“I had a hunch.”

They continued walking.

“A pretty great hunch, I’ll give you that. The surname’s Lim.”

A nod, “Lim. Do you still use it?”

“Yeah. My father and I were the only Lim Clans left.”

Mina wanted to ask more about Nayeon’s father but decided not to rush.

“This is where I live.” Mina said, when they reached the dorm, “It doesn’t look too fancy but it’s decent. I proposed to get an education a few years back. I got accepted; but not in the Capital. I was happy enough, still,”

Nayeon was mum.

“Living outside the Capital is tough.” Mina shrugged, continued walking and Nayeon followed her, “I’ve never been there actually but hearing about it every day just… made me sure that it’s way better than in here or anywhere else in this world.”

“Do you live with your family?”

“No, no. They have an apartment near here. I used to live there. Not anymore.”

“Why not?”

Mina hummed, she wasn’t sure how to explain, “Well…”

A very loud explosion made both of them jump. It came from the dorm. Mina looked up and saw a thick smoke coming out of a window. It was probably the lady on the fourth floor. The one who had the most expensive room with a balcony.

“What was that?!” Nayeon sounded panicked, scooting closer to Mina.

“It was-- wait, you have never seen or heard it before?”

Nayeon shook her head, eyes huge.

“It never happened in the Capital? Not even once?”

“No? What are you talking about?”

Mina let out yet again another scoff and continued walking, ignoring Nayeon who was confused as hell. She didn’t want to hate the Capital, really, but hearing about it always made her blood boil. What was so different between people inside and outside the Capital anyway? All of them were human beings. Why were they treated differently?

“Mina, hey,” Nayeon caught up to her, “I’m sorry if I offended you or--”

“Oh no, no, don’t mind me. I get envious a lot of time.”

“Envious? Of me?”

“Yeah?” A raised eyebrow, “Everyone in here is envious of you, Nayeon.”

It was Nayeon’s turn to scoff, “Why me? Did you forget that I decided not to go? Which is why I’m still here with you until this day?”

Both of them stopped walking again.

“We both have stories to share. It’s a great way to kill time until midnight, don’t you think?”

Mina still didn’t understand Nayeon, “So… you can’t wait for your death? Is that why you didn’t go? You want to die?”

It earned her a heartfelt laugh, “You sound like my father.”

“What--”

“Let’s walk!”

Staring at Nayeon’s back weirdly, Mina wondered if the girl was sane or not. People lost their sanity in times like this, Mina could understand that. Actually she was one of the rarest, of staying sane despite the situation. Maybe she was actually insane but she didn’t realize. Mina wasn’t even sure.

It was the last day of her life anyway. There was nothing more to lose. Glancing one last time to her dorm and the fading smoke, Mina decided to go along with Nayeon.

“I think we’re around the same age.” Nayeon said.

Mina looked at her for a moment, and agreed right away, “I guess you still had the chance to witness regular days and nights?”

“Right!” Nayeon giggled, “I was very young, though. I don’t have enough memory of that time. But I do remember seeing the sun going down very slowly.”

“I remember my mother reassuring me that nothing bad would happen. That we didn’t need to believe the news. That I’d keep seeing sunrise and sunset every day.”

“That’s the exact opposite of my father.” Nayeon’s laugh sounded bitter, “Ever since I was young he kept bringing up about the end of the world. Our time was coming to an end. We need to do something to stay alive.”

Mina shivered as the wind blew a little too harder, “What was it like? Being a researcher?”

“Fun. But scary. Researchers... they did everything to keep us alive. Literally, everything, every possibility, every chance, every… potential.”

It was the hope that kept people alive before the riot. The government was too optimistic. Mina was no exception. The widespread public opinion made people believe they could stay alive. They didn’t know how, they just believed. They just had the useless faith. Until the day the government decided to be honest and every hope was shattered down to pieces.

Mina hated the government then. She still did. She would never get over it. They could’ve been honest with the people since the beginning. People wanted to live. People would do anything just to live. They would give and sacrifice themselves if they had to. The way the government one-sidedly decided who was worth to save and who wasn’t left a deep anger in Mina, and probably everyone who still stayed to wait for their death like her.

“I hate people like you.” Mina said, looking down, “I think you already know.”

Nayeon was mum again for some moment.

“If I met you before the riot… I don’t know what I’d do to you, honestly.” The sigh was heavy.

Nayeon stopped walking, Mina did too, as they looked at each other, “What happened to you?”

Mina paused, trying to find anything to justify her hatred toward Nayeon, anything evil on her face, gesture, language, but nothing. The riot was over. Her anger died along with it. People got tired. _She_ got tired. She didn’t feel anything knowing the one who was standing right before her was a damn researcher.

“A lot.”

Nayeon smiled, looking down, “It’s our last day. Why hesitate?”

“You hesitate too.”

“I’m afraid I’ll…”

Mina waited. Nayeon didn’t continue.

“You’ll what?”

A gulp, “I’ll… break down.”

Mina wanted to argue again, but only then she noticed something in Nayeon that she didn’t have. That the whole people aside from the ones working for the government didn’t have. Mina extended her hand, softly tucking Nayeon’s shoulder-length hair behind her ear, making sure the silver, triangle mark on her neck, under the ear, was really there.

Nayeon looked down and just let Mina see it. She was really one of them.

“You’ve been a robot your whole life.” Mina said, softly cupping Nayeon’s cheek, “Be a human for your last day.”

Seeing Nayeon’s slight smile, Mina pulled her hand away and both of them continued walking.

“Me first then,” Mina said, trying to lift the mood a bit.

“Listening,”

“I was born in a pretty happy family. Many siblings; I was the youngest. Parents were fine. Things were fine. Education… well… only three of us had the chance; I was one of them. My parents weren’t exactly… useful, as what they said. Nowadays we don’t need money, we have those already, it doesn’t matter. Nowadays we need people that are useful because we _need_ to live. My parents weren’t included.”

“Is that why not all of the children got education?”

“Yes. We’re a bit on the worthless side.” Mina sneered, “That’s when things got hard.”

Many years, decades, or even centuries prior people would laugh if they were told they wouldn’t need money. Mina wished she had lived in times like that. When life was simple and people weren’t grouped into _useful_ and _useless_. Money was everywhere. People had money, Mina had a lot of them, but what was it for? Say, they had money to buy food, but what if food didn’t exist anymore?

“So, we fell apart.” Mina continued, “The other siblings who weren’t lucky became envious. Our parents felt bad. We fought almost every day. It was tiring. Especially after my oldest brother brought up about our clan. We were from the Capital, for God’s sake. Why were we living pathetically like that? What did our parents do until we drifted apart?”

Mina never got an answer.

“I decided to live separately. I heard the dorm near the center had some empty rooms. So I booked one. I gave the owner a week worth of food. It was enough to convince them.”

“Food?”

“Yeah. The one you have to put inside those small machines so they’d cook themselves?”

Nayeon’s lips parted, “But they’re rare!”

“I know. But that was the only way. I can survive the pills, anyway.”

Nayeon was still shocked.

“They let me stay for as long as I want after that.” Mina tried to reason, “No question. No disturbance. No more asking of how useful I am. Quite worth it, in my opinion.”

There was a slight thin smoke when Nayeon puffed a heavy breath, “Still…”

The smile was a bit hidden, “So, yeah, I moved out. I was first in my family who did so. My siblings followed after. I do wonder sometimes of why I had the courage to do it. I was the… quietest in my whole family. All of them except me had the tendency to voice out what they felt, meanwhile I was quite the opposite.”

“Even both your parents?”

“Yes. All of them. It was only me who was different.”

“What about your grandparents?”

“Long gone,” Mina shook her head, sighing, “I guess they still belonged in the Myoui Clan.”

“So you’re not so far from them actually?”

“No, I’m not. That’s why we were angry, I guess. I mean, we’d understand if the last family members who still belonged to the clan were like, our great great grandparents or something, but no, we just had to be only the second generation to separate. It felt unfair. We didn’t do anything but we got the end of the stick along with our parents.”

“Do you hate your parents?”

The question left Mina thinking.

She didn’t realize her steps were bringing Nayeon and her to the apartment where her family used to live. Back in the day people would brag if they managed to rent a room in that huge building. The rare food Mina mentioned earlier wasn’t rare at all if you lived there. It needed a lot to trade to get the food, indeed, but at least they didn’t need to put an extra physical effort.

Mina stopped walking, staring at the building across them, “We used to live there. Seventh floor. Had one of the nicest views from our balcony. Must’ve been hell when the riot happened. They would have seen it all from up there.”

Nayeon followed Mina’s gaze, “What happened to them?”

“The same thing happened to the lady earlier. The explosion we heard.”

Nayeon turned her head at Mina, still clueless.

“A day before the riot, or, the night when the riot started, my mother called me. She told me to go home. She wanted to see me, and the other children too, as she said she had called them all and they agreed. I knew something was wrong.”

Things changed after most of children moved out of the house. They no longer knew what family meant. People only thought of themselves. Even mothers would trade their children for food if they had to. That extent didn’t happen to Mina’s family, because at least they were still up in the ranks wealth-wise, but since money had less and less meaning each day, their ranks kept dropping and Mina knew sooner or later they were family no more.

“You know that people who participated in the riot had one side goal; other than wanting to be saved.” Mina didn’t look back at Nayeon who was still staring, “They wanted to have a reason to die. They would rather die in a reasonable situation than… what we’re doing right now. Waiting. For an obvious death. Their whole life was filled with anxiety, uncertainty, and they got used to it. Being told you would die exactly thirteen minutes after midnight wasn’t exactly a part of the things they were used to.”

“They would rather die earlier.”

“Yes. Die faster. Die earlier.”

“Did your family join the riot?”

“No, no, they didn’t. But they had the same… goal. To die.”

Nayeon paused for a moment before she hesitantly asked, “How?”

“That night my whole family except me gathered in that apartment. Had dinner. For one last time.” Mina sighed, once more, “Mass suicide.”

The look on Nayeon’s face was something Mina hadn’t seen for years.

“I’m sorry, Mina.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m fine. It doesn’t matter anymore. Everyone did the same anyway. That’s why this city died sooner than us.”

Nayeon wanted to say something, but Mina quickly resumed walking ahead of her. Mina was fine. She didn’t need pity. She would die anyway, so would Nayeon. There was no need of pitying others when all of them had the same fate.

“Hungry?” Nayeon then asked, offering the pills.

“Not yet, maybe,” Mina shook her head with a smile, the silver mark on Nayeon’s neck kept distracting her, “I think that’s all about me. I don’t think I need to tell you of how my family tried to propose to the government for us to be saved because obviously, we didn’t go through.”

The bag of pills was hugged close to Nayeon’s chest, “It was just a ploy. The government lied. They didn’t even pick one single person from those proposal and shit.”

Mina was the one taken aback that time, “What?”

“I didn’t ask you because I knew those programs were a big fat lie.”

“So they didn’t-- I mean, I saw in the news some cooks were able to--”

“It was all manipulated, Mina.” Nayeon said sternly, looking apologetic before the wide-eyed Mina, “They didn’t need cooks. The researchers could produce food, pills, or anything they wanted, just fine. People were brainwashed into thinking the government would save a seat for someone they deemed useful, but no, people other than the researchers didn’t even stand a chance.”

“They… they lied to us?”

The nods were certain, “The same way they lied to me too.”

“What--”

Nayeon suddenly fell into a coughing fit. Mina didn’t know why she suddenly panicked. Rubbing Nayeon’s back softly, she wondered what was wrong. Was Nayeon sick? Was the weather too cold? She remembered reading that her city was one of the coldest meanwhile the Capital had the most normal temperature, hence why it was called the center of the world and named the Capital…

The coughing stopped and Nayeon sniffed a little. Mina was about to let out a relieved breath when she saw blood on Nayeon’s palm.

“Hey, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Nayeon let out a low chuckle, “I know what you’re thinking.”

Mina frowned, still holding the other girl, “What am I thinking?”

“That I’m actually sick and dying so that’s why I decided not to go because it’s useless?”

“Well,” Mina raised her brows, “I haven’t actually thought about that but now that you’ve mentioned it I do think it makes sense.”

Another chuckle as Nayeon wiped the blood off of her palm with her sleeve, a bit nasty but Mina didn’t mind, “We’re nearing the end of the world, Mina. There isn’t a disease we can’t cure.”

“True, but, diseases keep appearing no matter how advanced we are.”

“Those are just rumors. We haven’t discovered new disease for decades.”

“Umm, fine then, so…”

Nayeon wiped her lips, Mina tried not to stare, “Radiation.”

“Oh…”

“And my body is still trying to adjust. I’ve never been out of the Capital before this, so,”

Mina sighed and took her coat off, wrapping it around Nayeon, “You should’ve told me.”

“Thanks.” Nayeon smiled, and again, it looked too genuine, “You’re so kind.”

“It’s nothing. Let’s just go to a warmer place. A bit to the south side.”

A nod, “After you.”

Mina led the way again then, both hands tangled behind her back. The way to the south was a bit eerie as they encountered some dead bodies on the streets. It made sense. The south was the best part of the city. It was warmer and the view was nice too. Mina wondered why not a lot of people wanted to die in the south, rather than in between the riot or committing suicide in secluded places. To think about it, the south seemed like a good place to spend times before death.

“I guess it’s my turn.” Nayeon mumbled, and Mina gave her a nod, “Well, as what I’ve told you earlier, I lived in the Capital and my dad was a researcher.”

Sounded so different from what Mina had told Nayeon.

“My mother passed away after giving birth. I don’t really know her. My father was very… you know, there’s a saying that a researcher can’t spend a day thinking of things other than science, and that perfectly describes my father.”

Mina understood. Of course, family didn’t matter for people nowadays.

“From what I’ve heard my mother also worked for the government. Her death was unfortunate. I heard it was caused by massive radiation she encountered during the pregnancy. That her body wasn’t strong enough so one of us had to die in the process. Being able to choose, she chose me, and sacrificed herself.”

Nayeon took a deep breath and Mina tried to read her a bit, to know if it was hard for her to tell stories as such.

“Sounded like a sad plot of a TV drama but really, it wasn’t completely sad. My father didn’t even hesitate to tell her stories to everyone. It wasn’t a big deal. My mother died, yeah, that’s sad, but then so what? People die every day.”

Mina smiled. That was what she felt too when her family died.

“After I became legal, I wanted to work with my father. He was always enthusiastic in talking about what the invention would bring us in the future. He wanted to make the future exist. He wanted to… he said he wanted to save humanity.”

“He said?”

Nayeon hugged the bag of pills tighter, looking smaller, somehow, wearing Mina’s coat, “He was one of the government. Well, I was one of them too, but,”

She hesitated again. It made Mina turn around to face her, walking backward, “You know what, if you don’t want to tell me, it’s fine. I’m not trying to interrogate you or anything,”

“No, no, don’t feel like that. I’m… I’m just,” Nayeon stopped walking, grasping the hem of Mina’s shirt with one hand to make her stop as well, “I’ve never told anyone else other than my father… I didn’t have the courage… I… I don’t speak much to begin with, I… I’d just sound so ridiculous,”

Mina was silent then, staring at Nayeon who was looking down. There was a weird urge in her to get closer to Nayeon, she didn’t know why, but she fought it and instead reached for Nayeon’s hand that was grasping her shirt to hold it.

“The south will be a better place to talk. We’ll get there in no time. You’re going with me, right?”

Nayeon squeezed her hand softly, “I have no one else to go with.”

The government didn’t disclose the details of the end of the world. They didn’t tell the people they left behind of what they would face when the time came. Mina was somehow glad. They didn’t need to get overly anxious while looking up at the sky, trying to guess what was going on up there and what would happen to them when it reached midnight.

They were silent most of the time. Mina didn’t mind. Holding Nayeon’s hand, somehow, made her a little calmer. She hoped it was the same for Nayeon. Judging by the way Nayeon’s hand reciprocated, Mina had the small hope that Nayeon felt the same way.

“What is the south exactly?” Nayeon then asked, swinging their hands slowly.

“A park.” Mina said, a crooked smile appeared when she pictured it inside her head, “With artificial grass and trees and fruits.”

“Is it still safe? I mean, after the riot, and all,”

“Well, if there was one thing the people in the city all agreed, is that we should not touch the south no matter what happened. People cherished the south more than anything. It is the closest we can get to the Capital… or even to the past where everything was real, not artificial. Or so as I’ve heard,”

A giggle, “No, you heard it right. Many centuries ago those green things were real. We kept some of the rare samples in the lab. But now I’m pretty sure they took it with them.”

The information was new to Mina, “You’ve seen it?”

“Yes, of course.”

“What was it like?”

“Almost the same as the artificial ones, only, it’s alive.”

“Alive?”

“Yeah.” Nayeon’s smile was wider, bunny teeth showing, “They’re living beings, Mina, like us. They can grow if given the right treatment and environment.”

Mina’s lips were still parted, making her look dumb, and maybe that was why Nayeon was smiling so wide, “You’re telling me the truth, right?”

The laugh was so genuine, “Of course!”

Mina giggled along, “You’re not doing this only to impress me, right?”

“Why would I do that?” Nayeon pushed Mina slightly, trying to stifle the laugh, “It’s real, okay? Magic happens in the lab. Lots, lots of them.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll buy it.”

When Mina felt a bit warmer, she knew they were getting closer. They surprisingly heard noises. The city was dead silent but the nearer they went to the south, the more noises they heard. Mina and Nayeon looked at each other confusedly, when they saw some small groups of people, sitting down on the artificial grass in the south.

“There are people here,” Nayeon murmured, with a slight smile that didn’t go unnoticed by Mina.

So Mina wasn’t the only one who thought that the south was a good place to die.

It felt peaceful, somehow, joining the people in the south. Mina and Nayeon sat down by the artificial tree, taking their time to observe the whole park. There weren’t too many people present, but enough to make them feel less lonely. Some talked like what they were doing, some just being silent while hugging each other, some cried and some just stared up blankly to the sky, waiting.

All of them were just waiting.

“Do you want me to tell you a secret?” Nayeon suddenly asked, and Mina stopped looking around, “A secret that only my father and I know?”

Mina leaned her back onto the artificial tree behind them, “If you didn’t mind, yeah, sure.”

Nayeon smiled, looking down to their joined hands, soon prying her hand off of Mina’s and that almost, _almost_ made Mina feel something unpleasant, but didn’t because Nayeon ended up playing with Mina’s smaller hand with both of hers, “Everyone will die at the end.”

Mina waited, a second, two seconds, for Nayeon to continue, but she didn’t, and it earned her a snort, “You call that a secret?”

“Hey, I mean it.” A frown was present.

“Nayeon, everyone in this world _knows_ they will die. I know, you know, that guy knows, everyone does.”

“I mean everyone as in everyone, Mina.” Nayeon gave her hand another squeeze, “Including the ones that have left us behind.”

Mina laughed again, but was silenced by her own realization, “What?”

Nayeon didn’t look amused. Mina realized she was being serious all along.

“Wait, what? Are you saying that the government will also die? They literally saved themselves along with the researchers and those chosen people away from us. That’s why they left us. They figured out how to stay alive and didn’t bring us with them.”

“That’s what they told you.” Nayeon’s eyes grew sadder, and Mina still didn’t understand why, “They told me. They told themselves.”

“What do you mean? Are you saying they’re wrong?”

“They’re humans.”

“Nayeon,” Mina pulled her hand back, and Nayeon didn’t fight for it, “they have been researching for _centuries_. Way back before we were born. They calculated everything to save humanity. And it wasn’t just like there was only one, or two, or three of them around. There were hundreds, even thousands!”

“I know.”

“And now you’re saying they’re wrong all along?”

“I am a researcher too.”

It silenced Mina, again.

“What? Do you think I don’t have a strong reason choosing not to go with them? Do you think I just simply said, yeah, I’d rather die now here, and then ran away?”

“But the researchers--”

“You were _all_ brainwashed since the very beginning. Researchers are humans too. They make mistakes too. And sometimes they don’t realize it too. Just like me. Just like you.”

Mina sat straight, a part of her still wanted to argue, but the silver mark told her not to, “So what is your reason exactly? Why are you still here instead of going with them?”

“Because they are all going to die, Mina.”

Nayeon sighed, fiddling with her own fingers, and Mina somehow regretted pulling her hand back.

“My father believed me when I told him, I know he did, he just pretended he didn’t.”

“Told him what?”

“That the distance between our galaxy and the other one closest to us has changed through time. They got further away from us. That we were far too late in realizing it. If we had figured it out earlier, we would’ve been able to build a more advanced technology to reach it. Or at least, to stay alive on our way to reach it, if we could.”

Mina kept mum, while Nayeon still looked down to her fingers.

“It was very difficult to calculate it. I needed years to finish that _one single_ calculation. Not all researchers could. Most of them couldn’t, including my father. So they just blindly followed the existing data that was last updated probably when animals still existed. I know they wanted to play safe, to… to make the most advanced technology they could make but the time was running out. Hundreds of years weren’t enough. Nothing is ever enough for human beings.”

“So what would happen to them up there?”

Nayeon smiled, looking up to the sky, “An even slower death than us.”

Mina stared at Nayeon, at the silver mark, “And they don’t even know?”

“They refused to know. They lied to me. Lied to everyone. Lied to themselves that everything would be fine when it wouldn’t. We can’t escape death. This is the end of humanity.”

She wasn’t going to lie, it sent an unpleasant shiver to Mina’s spine when Nayeon stated that. Ignoring the questions in her head, Mina reached for Nayeon’s hand again, holding it, rubbing the back of the hand with her thumb.

“Did you tell them?”

“My father told me not to. I found out that it wasn’t only me who realized. Like I said, most of the researchers couldn’t calculate it, but a small, minority could, including me. So I wasn’t the first one to realize it. I was the last, though, that’s for sure.”

“Well, what happened to the researchers who calculated it like you? Why didn’t they form an ally or something?”

A bitter laugh, “Mina, the last time a researcher correctly finished the calculation was exactly a hundred and sixty years ago.”

Mina was silenced, _again_.

“So yeah, I don’t even know why I could do it. I thought I was wrong, but seeing my father’s panicked expression for the first time after I told him, I knew I was right.”

Nayeon’s lips slightly quivered and the hand didn’t reciprocate like it used to, so Mina pulled her closer and tried to lift the mood, even a little bit.

“The bright side is,” Mina said, and Nayeon hesitantly looked at her, “you’re such a brilliant genius.”

Mina guessed it worked because Nayeon chuckled again, “And a coward too. I regret it so much. I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have let my curiosity won and did that damn calculation. I shouldn’t have known about it at all so I wouldn’t be bothered.”

“But if you didn’t know then you’d go with them and--”

Nayeon looked up to her when Mina didn’t continue, “And what?”

“And…” It was Mina’s turn to look down, “and we’d never even meet.”

Mina didn’t know how Nayeon looked like after she said that but she assumed it was bad because Nayeon didn’t say anything after.

“And like you said you’d,” Mina tried to reason, “you know, if you go with them you’d have a… slower death? Or something,”

Nayeon let out a soft laugh at that, “I’m glad I met you too. I seriously didn’t expect anything after I escaped. Life in the Capital after the riot was miserable. So I just decided to drive away for the first time.”

As Nayeon said that, there was a strong wind in a sudden along with a dark cloud approaching. Mina pulled Nayeon close in instinct and she could feel her shivering even though the one who had the coat was her and not Mina.

It wasn’t bright again. Mina needed a moment to comprehend that she would never, ever see a bright sky again.

“Are you okay?” Nayeon asked softly, noticing Mina who was spacing out, “Don’t be scared. It will be fast, I promise.”

Mina wanted to hide it, that she was _indeed_ scared now that the time almost came, but she fought it. She had been hiding for too long. Nayeon didn’t hide anything from her either. She felt safe of being honest with Nayeon.

“How could you know?”

Nayeon scooted closer, coughing for some moment, and Mina held her to her chest, “I know what will happen. It will be as quick as a blink of an eye. It won’t hurt.”

Mina rested her chin on the top of Nayeon’s head, leaning back onto the artificial tree, “We’re running out of time.”

“We are.”

The cries then turned into wails. Not everyone did, but most certainly couldn’t contain their fear and sadness in welcoming death. Mina and Nayeon went mum for some time. Mina didn’t want to count. She really didn’t want to know the time. But she also didn’t want to miss it. She didn’t want to die so sudden without realizing it.

Distancing herself away from Nayeon, Mina pulled her phone out of her jeans pocket.

She gasped. The screen said _23:44._

“Hey, hey,” Nayeon cupped Mina’s face with her hands, “it’s okay, listen, it’s okay. It will be fast. You won’t feel anything.”

Mina nodded, “I’m fine, I’m fine, I just… I didn’t know it’s already…”

“It’s fine. We’re together now at least. It’s better than being alone.”

Another nod as Mina put her phone down on the artificial grass. _23:45_.

“You know,” Mina started, deciding to say it because _they were going to die anyway_ , “I don’t know what it’s called but, I suppose you know about… about…”

Nayeon held her hands, waiting patiently.

Mina peeked at her phone again. _23:47_.

“About how I feel right now being with you.”

“What do you feel?”

“That I…” Mina stared straight at Nayeon’s eyes, her chest getting heavier, suddenly there were questions in her head, questions she never even thought of, “I wonder how it would be like for us if we… if the world wouldn’t end so soon. If we could spend a longer time together without minding about death. If this were years ago when people were happy.”

Nayeon was the first to shed tears. Mina was a bit surprised it wasn’t her. But she quickly wiped it for the other girl, didn’t want their last moment to be filled with tears.

“I’ve been wondering the same, now that I realize it,” Nayeon said, bitterly chuckling between the tears, “I want to be with you for a long time but,”

Mina looked at her phone again. _23:59_. _Fuck it._

Leaning in, Mina pressed her lips against Nayeon’s, like what her parents used to do when she was a kid. Growing up, she never witnessed it ever again, and she wasn’t even sure if Nayeon knew what it meant, but Nayeon reciprocated and suddenly the wind didn’t matter. The darkness didn’t matter. The end of the world didn’t matter.

_00:07_. Nayeon pulled away first. A glint of amusement in her eyes.

“I guess the word you’re trying to find was,” She paused for a bit, before giggling, “love?”

Mina smiled. _00:09._ She agreed.

“Love.”

_00:11._ Nayeon cupped her cheeks again, bringing their foreheads together, “Will you remember me?”

Mina held the hands, nodding, _00:12,_ “I will only remember you.”

They both smiled the widest as the darkness drowned them both in.

_00:13_

****

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!! It's a bit late but I recently made a twitter account; @svnous. Feel free to reach me there!!


End file.
